As a fish portrait lens it is killer. Great field of view and quite sharp. Compared to the 60 or 100 macro lenses for macro though it has the problem that the 1:1 distance is quite small and it will be a giant pain to light stuff for 1:1. Behind a small dome it may be really nice but I haven't tried it that way.Bill

I'm wondering, are you looking for a mid-range lens? Scott ( my husband)has the Sigma 17-70 that he uses for an all around lens. When I was looking for one I looked at the Nikor 18-55 but it was pricey. Scott bought me a Tamron 17-50 mm 2.8 throughout for Xmas. It was a great surprise. It is quite a bit less expensive than the Nikon lens. We had to cannibalize a focus gear for the lens. But a plastic gear sleeve from ikelite works both for my husbands sigma and my tamron after grinding to match the gears. Not the same gear sleeve btw.

My photography may leave something to be desired but the lens is pretty good and I'm happy with it. For what it's worth!!